Chris Slade Nearly Quit Music After Leaving AC/DC

Two-term AC/DC drummer Chris Slade said he almost quit the music business after leaving the band for the first time in 1994.

He felt that his attempts to do everything that had been asked of him hadn’t been appreciated following a phone conversation with Malcolm Young, in which the subject of original drummer Phil Rudd returning was discussed.

“I got a call from Malcolm saying, ‘We’re going to try Phil out,’” Slade told EonMusic in a new interview. “‘Apparently he’s straightened himself up, and we’re going to try him out.’ And I went, ‘Well, I’m gone then, Malcolm … ’ And he said, ‘No, no, we want you to stay on; we don’t even know if he can play drums anymore, because it’s been a while.’ And I said, ‘And you’re going to try him out?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, well, we’ve talked to him.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m gone, and if he can’t play drums, that’s your problem now, Malcolm.’”

Slade insisted on resigning “there and then” despite Young’s offer to keep paying him. Asked if he’d been happy with the situation, he said, “No, I wasn’t. After that I didn’t touch a drumstick for three years. It just knocked me back. I thought, ‘You do your best – as I always do, as I always have – and it’s not appreciated,’ and I thought, ‘I’ve had enough of this business.’”

He recalled being “shocked” to be invited to return in 2015 after Rudd experienced legal problems. “It was fantastic, and the [Rock or Bust] tour was great," he noted. "It always has been a great honor to be in that band.”

Asked to comment on AC/DC’s recent activity -- which appears to be a new album featuring Angus Young, Brian Johnson, Rudd and Stevie Young -- Slade said he wished his former colleagues luck. “There’s all sorts of rumors … there’s so many variables there,” he observed. “And I’ve learned with AC/DC also not to believe the rumors, because even fans fake things. Things just get faked.”